Wrappable textile sleeve having supplemental lace closure and method of construction thereof

Abstract

A wrappable textile sleeve with closure system and method of construction is provided. The sleeve has a wall of interlaced yarn with opposite edges extending in a lengthwise direction along a longitudinal axis between opposite ends. The opposite edges are wrappable into overlapping relation with one another to form a tubular cavity. The wall has a first set of closed loops positioned adjacent one of the opposite edges and a second set of closed loops positioned adjacent the other of the opposite edges. At least one flexible lace is disposed through the closed loops in a zig-zag pattern, thereby extending back-and-forth between the first set of loops and the second set of loops. The flexible lace is slidable through the plurality of loops to facilitate drawing and maintaining the opposite edges in overlapping relation with one another.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of constructing a wrappable textile sleeve, comprising:
 interlacing yarn to form a wall having opposite first and second edges extending in a lengthwise direction along a longitudinal axis of the sleeve between opposite ends, with the opposite edges being wrappable into overlapping relation with one another to form an inner tubular cavity; 
 providing a first set of closed loops extending along the length of the wall adjacent the first edge; 
 providing a second set of closed loops extending along the length of the wall adjacent the second edge; 
 extending at least one flexible lace through the first and second sets of closed loops in zig-zag relation from the first set of loops to the second set of loops, wherein said at least one flexible lace is slidable through the first and second sets of loops to maintain the opposite edges in overlapping relation with one another; 
 forming the first and second sets of closed loops within the wall; 
 forming the first and second sets of closed loops from at least some of the interlaced yarn; 
 forming the wall in a weaving process with warp yarn extending in the lengthwise direction and weft yarn extending generally transversely to the lengthwise direction; and 
 forming the first and second sets of closed loops from at least some of the warp yarn. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further including heat-setting at least some of the weft yarn to bias the opposite edges into overlapping relation with one another. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops in circumferential alignment with one another. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  further including extending a pair of flexible laces through the first and second closed loops with one of the flexible laces being fixed to one of the loops in the first set of loops and the other of the flexible laces being fixed to one of the loops in the second set of loops. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops in circumferentially spaced relation from the first and second edges. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops from monofilament yarn. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops from multifilament yarn. 
     
     
       8. A method of constructing a wrappable textile sleeve, comprising:
 weaving warp yarn extending in a lengthwise direction along a longitudinal axis of the sleeve with weft yarn extending generally transversely to the warp yarn to form a wall having opposite first and second edges extending in the lengthwise direction between opposite ends, with the opposite edges being wrappable into overlapping relation with one another to form an inner tubular cavity; 
 forming a first set of closed loops adjacent the first edge from at least some of the warp yarn; 
 forming a second set of closed loops adjacent the second edge from at least some of the warp yarn; and 
 extending at least one flexible lace through the first and second sets of closed loops to facilitate bringing the opposite edge into overlapping relation with one another by pulling the at least one flexible lace. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops in circumferential alignment with one another. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops spaced circumferentially from the opposite edges. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8  further including providing the warp yarn as multifilament yarn. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 8  further including providing the warp yarn as monofilament yarn. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8  further including providing the warp yarn as a combination of multifilament yarn and monofilament yarn. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops from the monofilament yarn. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13  further including forming the first and second sets of closed loops from the multifilament yarn. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 8  further including heat-setting at least some of the weft yarn to bias the opposite edges into overlapping relation with one another. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 8  further including extending the at least one flexible lace through the first and second sets of closed loops in zig-zag relation, wherein said at least one flexible lace is slidable through the first and second sets of closed loops. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 8  further including aligning the first set of closed loops with one another along a length of the wall and aligning the second sets of closed loops with one another along the length of the wall.